A school trip to hell and back

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Even before a girl claimed she was raped, the excursion was in
trouble, writes Michael Pelly.

In mid-2001, Tara Anglican School for Girls was organising an
art and history tour of Greece and Italy that would involve
students, teachers and parents. The girls would be watched like a
hawk, a 9pm curfew would be imposed and they would come back
culturally enriched by visiting the two ancient countries.

Instead, it became the trip of parents' nightmares; more
schoolies than school excursion.

Smoking and drinking were de rigueur for some - and sometimes in
full view of adults. One year 10 girl became so badly intoxicated -
and sick - that two of the mothers had to sober her up and give her
treatment for an illness.

At regular intervals, boys had to be fished out of hotel rooms
well after bedtime. German boys, Polish boys, Yugoslav boys. As
Richard Burbidge, QC, told a duty-of-care suit against the school
this week: "It's not clear where they [some year 11 girls] found
them, but there they were."

Mr Burbidge's full rundown of Tara's Mediterranean tour -
complete with photos - came in his opening address for one of the
students, Ms N. It got lost amid the girl's story of being raped by
four men in a Sorrento back alley, and her version of the trip was
not tested because the case was settled in her favour.

There were 42 on the tour when it began with a flight to Athens
on September 2. They included four from year 8 - all with their
mothers - six from year 10 (none with parents), 19 from year 11
(some with parents) and four teachers, one of whom took along her
husband. The girls were aged 13 to 17.

They took a connecting flight for Heraklion in Crete, with the
Palace of Knossos the main attraction. Ms N said they soon headed
to the beach, where some had various drinks in full view of a
teacher and a parent. The preferred tipples did not change much
over the trip - beer, Bacardi Breezers and cocktails.

After dinner, they were allowed to go out in groups of three,
which the school believed would guard against any trouble. "Perhaps
unsurprisingly, in light of the leeway they were to be given, they
went drinking at beach bars," said Mr Burbidge. The next night,
some went out for cocktails. Smoking was rife. "As girls do, they
photographed each other doing this otherwise forbidden activity,"
Mr Burbidge said.

On Tuesday, in Delphi, a nightclub visit was arranged to
celebrate a year 11 girl's birthday. Two year 10 girls had become
quite drunk. Back at the hotel, German boys offered one of them
Kuemmerling, which they told the girls was a drink which German
hunters used to numb their body to the cold. Soon one girl became
so sick she needed medical treatment.

The next day it was back to Athens. For the second time, their
booking was not right and they ended up in a hotel in the city's
red light district. A lecture followed about respecting elders and
not smoking or drinking. That didn't stop some year 11 girls
indulging in both that night "with young men".

The next night, some young Yugoslav men were found in rooms and
on Friday night it was Polish boys.

Saturday and it was Naples, where one of the girls was grounded
for having bottles of Bailey's and Bacardi rum in her room. But she
and Ms N still sneaked out for a pizza and met two local boys, Alex
and Giuseppe. They bragged of having had sexual intercourse, but
the evidence suggested their dalliances did not go past a kiss. The
girls made sure they were back by 10.30, but Ms N met Alex the next
night. She took two year 11 girls but in the course of evening they
separated, in some part due to Ms N's reluctance to hurry back at
curfew time.

Mr Burbidge said that was when the girl was shoved onto a
scooter and driven to a back lane. There she was raped by four men
as another two looked on. It took two days for her parents to be
contacted, by which time a lawyer on the trip and teachers had
pressured her into signing a statement that the sex was consensual,
Mr Burbidge said. They had told her that if her claims could not be
proved, she would face a hefty lawsuit from the assailants. Ms N
was taken to hospital, where a morning-after pill was arranged.

Teachers gave the tour group a severe dressing-down, reminding
girls of their obligation to behave.

Later, Ms N's parents had doubts. As Mr Burbidge said, "the idea
that their daughter had gone off for her first sexual experience
with six men struck them as inconceivable".

This version of the tour was never tested after the school's
insurer, Gerling, decided to settle on Wednesday this week - day
three of what was to be a three-week trial. The school's name had
been suppressed on Monday, but the order was lifted on Tuesday.

The headmistress, Carol Bowern, insisted "the school's
reputation has not been damaged". Yesterday she declined the
Herald's invitation to offer a different version of the
tour.